Washington-Watch

Hobby Lobby Wins Relief from Birth Control Mandate

A federal judge has granted a temporary injunction to arts-and-crafts retail giant Hobby Lobby, forbidding the Department of Health and Human Services from enforcing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandate that it provide birth control coverage to its employees until the questions the company raises can be resolved.

Hobby Lobby and its sister company Mardel, a Christian bookstore chain, were to face penalties amounting to $1.3 million a day starting later this month if they didn't provide FDA-approved contraceptive methods in their health plans, which cover 13,000 employees.

The for-profit, self-insured company claimed doing so would violate its religious freedoms and had been fighting the mandate in court -- including the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied its petition -- before winning temporary relief Friday. While Hobby Lobby provides some contraceptives in its health plans, the company objects to certain emergency forms of birth control.

Judge Joe Heaton of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma enjoined the federal government from fining Hobby Lobby until Oct. 1 while the Obama administration considers further appealing the case.

"Given the importance of the interests at stake in this case, the fact that the ACA's requirements raise new and substantial questions of law and public policy, and that substantial litigation as to the mandate at issue here is ongoing around the country, the court concludes there is an overriding public interest in the resolution of the legal issues raised by the mandate before Hobby Lobby and Mardel are exposed to the substantial penalties that are potentially applicable," Heaton wrote. "The public interest therefore lies in preserving the status quo until the issues raised by plaintiffs' claims are resolved."

The ACA mandate, which took effect last August, says that all new insurance policies must provide birth control coverage with no copayment or deductibles. Companies that do not comply face fines, penalties, and enforcement actions.

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled in late June that the arts-and-crafts giant should be given the opportunity to show its religious beliefs would be violated by either complying with the law or being forced to pay large fines.

"On balance, the court finds the threatened injury to the corporations if the injunction does not issue outweighs the potential harm to the government," Heaton said.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in Washington, lead attorney for Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby, counts 63 cases and more than 200 plaintiffs opposing the ACA birth control mandate, but not all of them represent for-profits like Hobby Lobby.

The Obama administration did recognize the controversy and issued a rule for churches and religious employers who object to providing the contraceptives. The rule allows such organizations to provide birth control by arranging for separate coverage through health plans women can enroll in at no cost. The organizations wouldn't be subsidizing the contraceptives.

However, the plan didn't make an exception for for-profit companies like Hobby Lobby.

David Pittman is MedPage Today’s Washington Correspondent, following the intersection of policy and healthcare. He covers Congress, FDA, and other health agencies in Washington, as well as major healthcare events. David holds bachelors’ degrees in journalism and chemistry from the University of Georgia and previously worked at the Amarillo Globe-News in Texas, Chemical & Engineering News and most recently FDAnews.

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